The Effects of Exports Sophistication and Economic Freedom on Economic Growth in Select Oil-Exporting Countries

Export sophistication, which means producing and exporting goods that are more sophisticated and have more value-added, along with economic freedom can influence economic growth in different countries through technological improvement, increasing expertise and encouraging innovation. This study examines the effects of export sophistication and economic freedom as factors that influence economic growth in a selection of oil-exporting countries. To meet this end, the export sophistication index is calculated based on Hausman et al. (2007) for period 1998 to 2017. The results indicate that, due to high share of oil and gas in the export basket, the sophistication of exported goods in the select countries is relatively low. However, this index has a positive significant effect on economic growth of select countries with a coefficient of 0.41. The economic freedom index in select countries is close to the global averages and its effect on economic growth is significant and positive with a coefficient of 0.06. Other control variables such as human capital, financial development and gross capital formation are also found statistically significant. Our findings confirm the need for planning to increase sophistication of exports. To achieve this end, apart from producing and exporting goods that are more sophisticated, the development of oil and gas downstream industries, which are capable of producing complex and high value-added goods, should be on the agenda.